


Oh, Snap

by sassandpanache



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Angst, Crossover, M/M, Marvel References, Minor Character Death, Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-17 11:01:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18963931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassandpanache/pseuds/sassandpanache
Summary: Everything can change in a snap.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with an idea that I was going to write with enterthetadpole but then I took it and ran away with it and, through Tad and apparentlynotreallyfinnish‘s support, here it is.

Link was on a mission.

He woke up that morning, determined to do the one thing that scared him the most. It was keeping him up at night which was practically unheard of. He’d finally realized he had to listen to his body and mind and get over his fear.

Today was the day he would ask Rhett out on a date. Nothing would keep him from it. Not even his own overthinking brain. There was a fork in the road and for once in his life, he was going to go the way his heart was telling him to go, ignoring his over analyzing mind. 

The attraction had been there since they were younger, but Rhett’s hormones seemed to push him toward a different girl every other week. Link spent long nights waiting up for him, and then having to listen to his conquests. Nothing graphic, but enough details to make Link’s stomach clench in ways that would hurt for days afterwards. At first, Link had felt he needed to keep up with Rhett, but before long, he realized that the person he wanted more than anyone was his best friend. It came out in the strangest of times. There was the unmistakable need to be closer than normal when they watched TV shows together. Link spent nights inching closer and closer to Rhett as they sat on the couch. Rhett got so used to the closeness that eventually it became the norm for them. There was also the fact that, off the top of his head, Link could tell how many types of smiles Rhett’s lips could make. And he loved each and every one of them.

Now, in their forties, neither had any wives or children. They were married to their jobs and they themselves acted often like an old married couple. Both of them dated on and off, but once the women met the lifelong friend, they seemed to slowly fade away. Link was content with this for the most part. He was too afraid to upset the dynamic and potentially lose his best friend and the love of his life forever. So he kept quiet. Always too afraid to rock the sturdy boat that they were.

Recently, however, things had shifted unexpectedly and it was throwing Link for a loop. It started with double entendres and innuendos, but then it got more daring. Pushing the envelope further on “family friendly” content. Link was reluctant to go too far, but Rhett met him move for move. It was almost as if Rhett was testing the waters. Trying to see how far Link would follow him towards something new, and Link was having a harder time trying not to give in.

This week was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That one particular filming involving Rhett acting like a topless maid was enough to get Link into a new gear. Too much happened during that filming—lingering glances, intentional grazing touches—that Link refused to ignore it anymore. He could do it. He could ask Rhett on a date. Best case scenario, they became what they should have been from the beginning, and could finally make up for so much lost time. Worst case, Rhett cared enough about their life together to respect Link’s feelings, and Link in turn, would respect Rhett’s now firmly laid out boundaries.

He walked into Mythical, waving at the writers who were meeting in the conference room and walked into Rhett’s and his shared office. Rhett hadn’t gotten in yet, so he pulled his laptop out and tried to start work. But his thoughts wandered again to the what if’s that could happen after he asked Rhett on a date. If he said yes, where could they go? They couldn’t do those typical first dates—they already knew everything about one another. More frightening, what if he said no? Could it be the end of them?

“Link!”

Rhett’s sharp voice broke through Link’s haze of thoughts. Link turned to look at his gentle giant standing next to him. He had a look of concern on his face. “Hey, man, sorry.”

“You okay, bo?” It came out softly, as if Link could break at Rhett’s voice. Link smiled at the term of endearment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look pale.”

“I’ll be okay. I think. I actually have something to talk to you about.”

Rhett sat in his desk chair and looked intently at Link. “Okay. Is everything all right?” The concern loomed large in his voice that he seemed to be trying to keep even.

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking. The last couple of months, we’ve been really leaning into more…” Link didn’t know how to finish that statement. This was embarrassing. And there were no guarantees Rhett saw things his way. 

“Leaning into more what, Link?” Rhett asked, his tone gentle and even. As if he had been anticipating this.

“You know, the...Rhett, are you okay?” Link said, as he caught Rhett’s eye. The look on Rhett’s face had morphed from patient and understanding to confusion and fear. Link’s stomach tightened. Had he gone too far?

But then the unexpected happened. Rhett disintegrated. Literally. Into ash. It happened slowly, but was over in seconds.

“Rhett?!” Link pushed up violently from his chair. He could hear screams outside his office, but he fell to his knees and sobbed into what was left of his best friend and the love of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprised? If you’re not a Marvel fan, I’m sorry; if you are, I’m not sorry. To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link picks up the pieces post-snap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much love and appreciation to enterthetadpole and apparentlynotreallyfinnish for all of their amazing support.

In the days and weeks that followed, Link spent his time grasping at trying to understand what had happened. There was some alien guy named Thanos that essentially snapped half of life out of existence. The Avengers had tried to stop him, but couldn’t. There was no recourse for anyone or anything other than to adapt to this new life without their loved ones.

So many folks at Mythical were lost to the snap. Stevie. Chase. Davin. Ellie. And without half of the signature duo, the drive to continue stalled. Eventually, Link decided to end Good Mythical Morning and Ear Biscuits. There was no point without Rhett. After a few failed attempts at other projects and a staunch refusal to finish projects Link had been working on with Rhett, that he just couldn’t stomach finishing without him, Mythical was shuttered.

The horrible irony that Link reflected on was that the apocalypse essentially happened and the single most prepared person was gone. When Link finally made his way to Rhett’s house for the first time, he found the storage room where Rhett kept his survival gear. Link crumbled to the floor and wept bitterly.

Link spent the first year wallowing in his own sadness. The person who could usually pull him out of this kind of train of thought was gone. He felt hollow, almost as if Thanos had taken Link’s heart too. Rhett had always said he knew he was missing something and didn’t know what it was until he met Link. The only difference for Link was, he knew what he was missing.

At one point, he heard rumblings that Steve Rogers was trying to do a support group for people who survived the snap. This infuriated Link. Captain America couldn’t stop Thanos. What happened was partly his fault. But when Rogers came to town and had a secret session that Link was able to go to, he couldn’t bring himself to tear into Rogers. He was as broken as everyone in the room. He sat there and absorbed all the pain and insults and tears people were lobbing at him. This was his penance and Link couldn’t help but forgive him.

Eventually, life was moving on. It wasn’t going at full speed; more like Link was trapped in quicksand. There were opportunities for people with engineering experience to help post-snap and Link figured, what the hell. He couldn’t help but resign himself to a different life. He didn’t want to do what he had been doing with Rhett. It was far too painful. At least he could help people in this way and it could help keep his mind busy.

Barbara still occasionally sniffed for Rhett. Looking for that long lost friend she just wasn’t able to find, but still she tried. Link admired her in more ways than one. There were times when Link wondered whether Rhett knowing how he felt before the snap would have made a difference in the end. Would it be better or worse? 

Years passed, and Link was able to keep moving forward, but not without Rhett in his daily thoughts and dreams. He still had nightmares about Rhett being snapped out of existence. He could still see the fear in those green eyes he knew with every inch of his being. He found himself talking as if Rhett was sitting right next to him. The pain in his chest had grown down to a dull roar, as if there were ocean waves moving over the beach of his soul.

The thing that haunted Link the most was all the time wasted. His fear of the what if’s, his cowardice to just talk to Rhett. To tell him he loved him, had always loved him and would continue to love him until his last breath. The fact that they were so close to something kept reigniting Link’s grief over and over. 

It was a life, but only barely.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late one night and Link was watching some show on TV, Barbara and Jade snuggled up beside him. A frantic knocking on the door shook him out of his stupor. He wondered vaguely who it could have been as he stumbled to the door. Barbara jumped down and rushed ahead of Link to the door. _That’s weird_ , Link thought fleetingly as he opened the door. His brain tried to absorb the figure standing at his door. In the instant he finally figured it out, his heart rebuilt itself and jumped into his throat.

Rhett.

“Wha..?” Link stumbled backwards, disbelief creasing his features. Rhett looked the same as he had that fateful day except, well, he was no longer ash. His hair was unruly, his clothing the same. But his eyes. Link stepped closer, his hand reaching toward Rhett’s face. His eyes were no longer filled with the fear that haunted Link’s dreams. His eyes now looked at Link with intention. Link’s hand connected with the bearded face.

“Link.”

At the sound of the familiar timbre that Link had missed so desperately, he launched himself into his best friend’s arms, bursting into tears. The feeling of Rhett’s body overwhelmed all of Link’s senses. His solid back, his strong arms, his scent. God, the smell of Rhett was just as Link remembered and he sobbed harder. A familiar feeling was creeping back into Link’s heart. He was home again. Rhett just held Link, stroking his salt and pepper hair and tightly holding on, anchoring himself back into this world.

“How?” Link whispered. 

Rhett pulled back, and Link whimpered. Closing the front door, he guided Link into the living room and sat them on the couch. Barbara jumped up into Rhett’s lap and frantically licked his face. Link kept looking on dumbfounded, and found himself jealous of the dog giving kisses to the man he wanted to give kisses to.

Rhett gently put Barbara back on the ground and turned to Link. 

“I woke up in our office. Well, what was left of our office? The last thing I remember was talking to you and then all of a sudden feeling a little weird. I thought it might have been that Thai food we had for lunch. But then I was on the floor of our empty office and it was dark. I walked out and...it was all empty. I walked around trying to make sense of it. Then I saw the papers.”

Link knew what Rhett was talking about. The conference room had become a makeshift newsroom. Filled with all the news stories on the Snap and the people who had been dusted. Like Rhett.

“I couldn’t believe...what had happened. I just needed to find you. So I left the building and walked until I could hail a cab. It’s a little crazy out there,” Rhett said as he looked at his hands. Link looked down at them too. Sometime during the conversation, they ended up holding hands, unwilling to lose the physical connection that had been lost for so long. “I guess everyone who was...dusted is coming back.”

There was a beat of silence. Rhett continued staring at their hands, then finally raised his head and looked at his friend. “Link, how long has it been?”

Link’s breath hitched. He slowly raised his eyes to meet Rhett’s. “Five years,” he whispered.

Rhett gasped. His eyes welled with tears. “I lost five years with you?” he whispered, his voice cracking.

Link’s reconstructed heart cracked a bit as the tears that were in his eyes fell anew. His hand came up to cradle Rhett’s cheek. Rhett’s eyes closed as he sank into the touch. Link drank him in and thought about all those years without Rhett. And all the things left unsaid for even longer. He had the chance to no longer live with the regret. He steeled himself to take it. He moved his other hand to frame Rhett’s face, his thumbs grazing the apples of the other man’s cheeks.

“Without you, they meant nothing. It wasn’t even living. It was just surviving without the one person I loved most,” Link said.

Rhett’s eyes snapped open and stared at Link intently. Link lost his breath under the heavy gaze. 

“Link,” Rhett said breathlessly.

“Rhett, I love you. I always have. I always will.” Link closed the distance and brushed his lips to Rhett’s. A small groan escaped Rhett’s lips as his hands flew to Link’s neck, desperate to touch his skin. Rhett’s tongue brushed insistently at the seam of Link’s lips and Link was more than happy to let him gain access, deepening the kiss and their connection with every passing second. He refused to let another moment pass without Rhett knowing exactly how much Link loved him.

Without thinking, Link climbed into Rhett’s lap, straddling his legs. He was already incredibly hard, and to his astonishment, so was Rhett. Rhett’s hands shot to Link’s hips and pulled him down on his bulging erection. Link moaned and grinded a bit to create delicious friction.

“I love you so much, Link. I’ve wanted this for so long,” Rhett said, pulling his lips away from Link’s and letting his forehead rest on Link’s.

“Not nearly as long as I have,” Link breathed with an edge of sadness to his voice, as his hands traveled down Rhett’s arms to the hem of his shirt. Rhett lifted his arms wordlessly as Link freed him of the shirt, tossing it to the side. Link’s breath hitched as his hands rested back on Rhett’s shoulders. Rhett hadn’t changed one bit. But self-doubt crept in the corners of Link’s mind. He was still lean after all these years, but had filled out a little more than Rhett would remember. 

Rhett seemed oblivious to what was going on in Link’s mind as he went after Link’s neck, nibbling and soothing the skin beneath his ear. Link moaned at the sensation. Rhett’s hands toyed with the hem of Link’s shirt. Link took a breath. It was now or never.

He lifted his arms to give Rhett access to pull his t-shirt off. His eyes closed as Rhett gasped. He could feel Rhett’s hands on him, stroking him reverently as Rhett’s leaned forward to Link’s ear. 

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Rhett growled as his hand hit the sweet spot on the nape of Link’s neck. Link gasped. Just when he thought Rhett was oblivious to his self-doubt, his love proved once again that no one on this earth knew him better.

Link pushed himself reluctantly to a standing position and held out his hand to Rhett, his eyes bold and clouded with love and lust, waiting for him to accept.

Rhett slid his hand into Link’s and stood. The trip to the bedroom took longer than it should have as each man would stop to press the other into the wall, peppering kisses on every inch of skin they could access. It struck Link as a bit funny that despite the literal fear of Rhett disappearing from his life forever coming true in the blink of an eye, there was no rush in what they were doing now. They luxuriated in one another, taking their time and learning what made the other moan in pleasure and hiss in pleasured pain.

Finally in the bedroom, Link switched on the bedside light. He could feel Rhett behind him and the hand placed on his shoulder pulling him to turn. Rhett leaned forward, gently kissing Link before switching gears and pushing him down on the bed. Link leaned back as Rhett climbed on top of him. The tears started falling from Link’s eyes again as he felt secure and surrounded by Rhett’s presence, as Rhett repeated his love for Link over and over again, as if he was afraid to let one more minute go past without Link knowing. As if he didn’t already.

Quickly, the emotional feelings were overwhelmed by physical ones. Rhett kissed, licked and nibbled his way down Link’s body. Fingers skated down to Link’s boxers and pulled his cock free, already leaking and hard in Rhett’s hand. 

“Fuck, Rhett,” Link said, as Rhett started pumping slowly.

“Oh, we’ll get there,” Rhett said smugly as his mouth enveloped Link. Link’s back arched off the bed. It had been so long for him that the sensations of Rhett’s tongue and hand were almost too much. 

“Oh, gosh, Rhett,” Link panted, his eyes shooting down to look at his beloved. Rhett was accelerating his strokes as he bobbed up and down on Link’s cock. Link threaded his fingers in Rhett’s curls and pulled slightly. Rhett groaned, and Link did too feeling the vibration and sound in his very soul.

“Rhett, I’m not going to last long if you keep this up,” Link said as Rhett cast his eyes up at Link’s face. Rhett’s pulled off of Link with pop, and crawled his way back up Link’s body.

“Do you have anything?” Rhett asked as he languidly nibbled on Link’s ear. 

“Bedside table. I, ah, don’t have any condoms,” Link blushed furiously. “I haven’t really needed them.”

Rhett’s face softened as he dipped down to kiss Link once more. A gentle, soft kiss turned heated and intense, filled with all the words, thoughts and love Rhett had for Link. Link felt breathless as Rhett pulled away, reaching for the bedside table.

Bottle of lube in hand, Rhett made his way back down and pulled off Link’s boxers as he backed off the bed, standing to finally lose the rest of his own clothing. Link felt a sense of something flood every cell of his being. Desire, urgency, love, fear, possession—whatever it was had Link’s mind kick into overdrive and need Rhett so desperately. Link clambered to his knees, placing his hands on Rhett’s hips as he straightened. 

“Kiss me,” Link whispered as Rhett leaned down to claim Link’s mouth once again. Link’s fingers dug into Rhett’s hips and pulled him closer as he plundered Rhett’s mouth. As if he could feel the urgency radiating off of Link, Rhett slicked his fingers up with lube before reaching around to Link’s hole.

Rhett’s touches were gentle, but sure as Link gasped at the contact. Slipping one finger in, Rhett worked Link over as his other hand snaked to Link’s nipple, twisting it and massaging it. Link moaned as his hand crept to Rhett’s erection and gave him a good tug. Rhett gasped. “More,” Link whispered in Rhett’s ear.

Slipping another finger in, Rhett sped up. Link, for his part, kept tugging at Rhett as he peppered kisses along his neck and shoulders. Rhett let out a moan and scissored his fingers in Link. Link faltered, his grip on Rhett falling as he anchored himself to Rhett.

“Please, Rhett,” Link panted. “I need you.”

“Not as much as I need you, darlin’,” Rhett said, the term of endearment slipping out as easily as his fingers did. Link moaned as he laid back on the bed. 

“Look at me,” Rhett commanded as he lined himself up with Link. Link looked at Rhett, the connection between them a blaze as Rhett eased into him. Link had never felt such an intense connection with anyone before, not even Rhett when they were just friends. Link felt as if he could see entire galaxies all coming down fast and furious to this one moment, this one connection with the man he loved. Nothing else existed but Rhett and Link, unbreakable and steadfast despite what others had tried to ruin.

Rhett kissed Link as he fully pushed in. Foreheads touching, each man took a moment to absorb the feeling and keep it locked in their memories for the rest of their lives. Link was the first to stir, urging Rhett to move. Rhett did, slowly at first, but gradually building up to almost primal levels of movement, bottoming out in Link with every thrust. Link’s mind was lost to the feeling, as he writhed around in pleasure.

“Rhett, I’m—I’m…” Link let out a guttural scream as he came, untouched, painting Rhett’s chest and his own with cum. The feeling of the hot, sticky ropes triggered Rhett’s own climax as he pushed into Link one more time.

Link pulled Rhett down on him, ignoring the sticky mess in favor of continued contact. Rhett nuzzled his face into Link’s neck. As Link’s breathing returned to normal, he became aware of a new kind of wet on his shoulder.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Rhett said quietly, sniffling.

“How long?” Link said, his hands stroking Rhett’s back slowly. Rhett raised his head to look at Link, his eyes clear and focused.

“Well, that since high school,” Rhett smirked. “But I’ve loved you for always.” Rhett’s face fell a bit. “I can’t believe I lost five years with you.”

Link’s breathing hitched and he leaned up for another kiss. “Well,” he said, pulling away and caressing Rhett’s cheek. “They weren’t all that great without you. So I guess we’ll just have to make the most of the rest of our years together.”

Rhett’s face cracked into a smile and their tears fell and blended together as they kissed.

——

Link woke up with a start. He was panting and shaking. He felt the bed for the comforting presence of Rhett, but it was cold where Rhett would lay. Link choked out a sob and buried his face in his hands. His dreams could be so cruel.

Suddenly, the door from the bathroom opened and Rhett appeared in nothing but a towel. Link looked over and gasped. Rhett’s attention snapped over to Link’s and he hurried to the bed, concerned.

“Link, what’s wrong?” Rhett said, as he embraced Link. 

“I had that dream again.”

It had been a few years since the Snap was reversed, but Link occasionally still had nightmares of Rhett disintegrating—sometimes the actual memory haunted his dreams, but other times his subconscious played tricks on him making him believe that Rhett was ripped from him once again. He knew he couldn’t survive Rhett disappearing again so those dreams were particularly difficult.

“Oh, darlin’, I’m not going anywhere,” Rhett cooed, as he stroked Link’s hair. Rhett knew just what to do in this situation. He held Link in his arms, reassurances and kisses spilling from his lips to prove that Rhett was still there. They had to be at the studio in a bit, but it could wait.

They had been able to reopen Mythical soon after the legal ramifications of Rhett being not dead were dealt with. Most of those who had come back from the Snap came back to Mythical, but overwhelmingly, a lot of crew were new—people who had been snapped away and come back and had to rebuild their lives. It was the least Rhett and Link could do. After all, it was a whole new world for them as well.

They had taken every single chance presented to them and then some. They finally wrote the film they’d dreamed of and it was optioned by one of the larger film studios. Another scripted series was also in the works. But, more importantly, Rhett and Link were married, determined to never spend another moment apart and without declaring their love publicly.

Link’s breathing evened out and he scattered small kisses against Rhett’s chest and neck. Rhett chuckled, but laid down on the bed giving easy access to Link who continued worshipping his body with his mouth.

“Feeling better?”

“Mm, just a bit,” Link said as he moved to straddle Rhett. “I think I need more proof that you’re really here.”

“I think I’ve got just the proof you need,” Rhett said, as he kissed Link and pulled the towel away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eternally grateful to enterthetadpole and especially my Tumblr wifey apparentlynotreallyfinnish for their support of this self-deprecating writer.


End file.
